What I learned from a Tibetan monk

Jamie Levi - Aug 14, 2018

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Spirituality has always played a role in society, whether it’s through religion or other means. And, there have always been spiritual teachings that have been focused on helping us improve our lives and our happiness at the same time. Now, when we think about happiness, and being at one with the self, our thoughts often turn top Tibetan monks. These guys are famed for being among the happiest and most contented people in the world.

We can learn a lot from Tibetan monks about how we should be living our lives, and what things matter in life. So, it’s important to look at the experience and example of some of these Tibetan monks to understand how to change your life in a positive way. Here we’re going to look at what we can all learn from the wisdom of Matthieu Ricard, a Tibetan monk who was a confidante of the Dalai Lama.

Success is not singular

One of the key things to learn about success is that it isn’t a singular thing – success is two-way. There are two types of success to focus on, and both of them matter in life. There is external success, and this is the stuff in your life that is materialistic, such as your job, influence,. And wealth. And while this matters, it doesn’t always equate to happiness. However, there is a second area of success that should be focused on, and this is internal success. That means getting to a point where you are happy with yourself, and with the direction your life is going in. This is often known as personal flourishing and is the most important thing for all of us to achieve in our lives, where we possibly can.

Trust your intuition

Intuition is an incredibly important, and often underrated skill. It is hugely important to make sure you go with your gut, and that you do as much as possible to follow through on this. Your instincts matter and you should go with them. Follow your heart, and your instincts, and make sure you act without hesitation, this is the way you can make sure you achieve things you want in your life. By following your intuition, you have the chance to constantly make the right choices, and improve your life accordingly. This is something you might need to work on, but it’s definitely well worth doing.

Accept what you can’t change

We often worry about things we can’t change – it’s a natural part of life. The problem is that this just leads to greater stress and worry, because of the fact that you can’t influence it in any way. So, you need to get yourself to the point where you stop fretting over things you can’t influence, and start to focus on making changes for the better in your life. Accept that you have no control or power over certain aspects of life, and teach yourself to accept that. If you can do this, you will find that you stop worrying about certain things, and your life will contain much less stress as a result.

These are just a few of the key things we can learn from studying the way Tibetan monks approach life. It is sometimes problematic to get bogged down with the materialistic nature of life in general. If you can take a more zen and carefree approach, you might find yourself a whole lot happier as a result.